Packing up and moving out

Today is our last "full day" in Arusha. We did some final shopping and then went to Picasso's Cafe for lunch. Some ate potato soup, others chose hamburgers, or salads.


After we came home we started packing. It is with some sadness we are leaving. We've enjoyed our time here and will miss those people we have met during our stay. In other ways we are homesick and ready to come home again, where water is plentiful and clean, electricity is usually available and traffic is not as dangerous and roads are much smoother. Praise God for potholes. Whenever we encounter another pothole in the U.S., we will remember the rough roads here in Arusha, and be grateful that most of our roads are paved and smooth, compared to here, where the majority of the roads are full of potholes and huge craters! The road to Steve's house (which is on the side of Mount Meru) is exactly what you would expect if you were climbing a mountain--rough and rocky. It is not that far from the main road, but you can definitely feel the bumps and jostling as you come up the hill to his house. He's told us we were "squashing his tires" which is true. The right rear tire has a slow leak, which causes us to have to refill it many times during the week. We have indeed "squashed his tires."

We just got back from Khan's (chicken in the ditch) where we had our last meal together in Arusha. Breakfast tomorrow will be an a la carte affair at about 4:30 a.m. as we have to load the car and head to the airport by 5:30 a.m. We finished our last devotion talking about our time here and how we need to set apart time to commune with God throughout the day and continue to develop our one on one relationship with him. We also talked about our trip and our time here and what we were able to accomplish.

Now there are some of us munching on Scola's chocolate chip cookies. We will definitely miss her cooking!

Please pray for us tomorrow that our journey will be problem free and on schedule and that we will make it through customs without problem. We are flying from Kilimanjaro to Nairobi then onto London where we will spend the night. Then we will fly from London to Denver and finally back to Wichita. Pray also that our bags will not be lost en route.

We hope to bring our stories, pictures, and testimonies back to you and your churches sometime after our return. It may be a few weeks before we're ready to do so. It will take us some time to debrief, unpack, and ponder our learnings before we're ready to share with you how God has impacted us.

For now we had better get to bed, as 4:00 a.m. will get here shortly! Bwana Asifiwa! Praise the Lord!

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